Prison staff at HMP Stirling were shocked after being made to organise a memorial service for Donna Marie Brand, a child killer who evaded justice for 30 years. Brand died after serving just two years of a 17-year sentence for the murder of 14-year-old schoolgirl Caroline Glachan in 1996. Her family was then invited to the prison to see the cell she occupied and the facilities available to her.
Staff call treatment 'extraordinary'
Staff have claimed the treatment given to the murderer was “extraordinary”, given the appalling nature of her crime. When Brand appealed her sentence last year, appeal judge Lord Carloway said: “It is not possible to categorise the punishment part as excessive for what was an evil, concerted crime.”
Brand was part of a gang who savagely battered Caroline, then hit her with rocks and left her to die in the River Leven at Renton, Dunbartonshire.
Memorial service attended by family and prisoners
One source said: “Officers weren’t happy about having to facilitate this. It is extremely unusual, extraordinary even, for a murderer to be afforded this level of courtesy within a prison when they die. There was a lot of muttering about it and most people didn’t think it was appropriate.”
More than 20 people attended the memorial service, including Brand’s family members and prisoners. The source added: “If it had been a prisoner that had been in the system for many years and who’d forged positive relationships in that time it would be easy to understand. But this is a woman who committed a terrible crime and who only served less than three years of a 17 year sentence. People felt it was an affront to the family of the young girl who was murdered.”
Caroline’s mum said she did not wish to comment on any memorial for her daughter’s killer. But Margaret McKeich, 68, said she was troubled that Brand did not serve the sentence that was handed out to her. She said: “I don’t have any opinion on it, other than to say that she failed to serve her full time. That bothers me. But other than that I don’t have feelings for her. She doesn’t live in my head.”
Brand died in custody last month
Donna Marie Brand, 47, died in custody last month after an illness. She was found guilty in December 2023, alongside Robert O’Brien and Andrew Kelly, following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow. She was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years in jail.
Initial investigations at the time of Caroline’s death were bungled, with huge police time wasted chasing wild goose chase leads. Vital evidence that was available at the time was never given proper priority until the cold case team took another look at the crime. Jurors heard the trio arranged to meet Caroline near a bridge by the River Leven on August 25, 1996. She was repeatedly punched and kicked and had bricks or similar objects thrown at her. She was pushed or fell into undergrowth before her body was discovered in the river later the same day.
When Brand was sentenced, the judge said she played no active part in the assault but shared responsibility for Caroline’s death because she left the teenager in the river. Ringleader Robert O’Brien and accomplice Andrew Kelly were also jailed for life, with minimum terms of 22 years and 18 years. Caroline was still alive when she entered the water and the ultimate cause of death was drowning.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “Every death, whether in prison custody or in our communities, is a tragedy for all those who knew and supported the individual. When someone in our care dies, a service will often be held for those who knew and cared for the individual.”
